Avonmouth OBs 20 Malvern 12 Malvern had the chance to go ahead with a penalty but the ball went wide of the posts, then Avonmouth made a sortie into Malvern territory and won a penalty of their own which was put over. The home forwards decided to play it close with a succession of drives and sucked in the Malvern defence to release their tricky winger, who went over in the corner to increase the lead to 8-0. It was all Avonmouth now, their forwards keeping the ball well and driving into the Malvern 22 metre area, but the defence held up well. A couple of Malvern breakaways came close but Avonmouth held out as the final scoring pass wasn’t forthcoming. However, a Malvern penalty to the corner saw a highly effective catch and drive move to the line which was blatantly pulled down by the home forwards, the referee having no hesitation in awarding a penalty try, which Tom Redfern converted just on half time. The second half saw Malvern start well but lose the ball in close contact to the much stronger Avonmouth forwards. The Avonmouth pack drove to the Malvern line but Tim Pickard stole the ball to relieve the pressure as both sides were guilty of errors, perhaps brought on by nervousness. Avonmouth put in another catch and drive move and once more the ball was passed out to the winger, who nipped in to score. Malvern countered immediately, passing the ball along the line for Ieuan Mustow to run in for a try to bring Malvern back to within three points. However, the Avonmouth team had the last say as the ball was whipped quickly across the line for a final try, which may have secured Malvern’s fate. With the remaining games against sides who are much higher in the league table Malvern have an uphill climb if they are to avoid relegation, stating at Old Patesians this week, where the side will be weakened by the absence of several Worcester University players who have a game on Saturday. They then entertain Barnstaple before ending the season with games at Brixham (away), Chippenham (home) and Exmouth (away), all of whom being stronger on paper. The move to the South West has proved damaging for Malvern, who lost almost half the squad as a direct result of the transfer, and the standard in the new league has been higher across the board than in the Midlands. A certain amount of rebuilding has to be done for next season, whichever league Malvern end up in and the coaching team are already looking ahead to next season.